tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682Sat, 12 Aug 2017 08:24:47 +0000pcplaystation 3xbox 360trailerplaystation 4xbox oneEAassassin's creede3playlistcall of dutygamesbatmanreviewtelltale gamesactivisionbattlefield 3playstationdiary of an assassine3 2013macstar warsubisoftarkham citybiowaree3 2014electronic artsmodern warfare 3xbox10 best of 2012diablo 3dicedlcfirst-person shooterneed for speedtop tenblizzardepisodemass effectassassin's creed 4bioshock infiniteblack flagdeus exsonywii Uback to the futureblack opsdragon agejurassic parkmass effect 3mmorockstarthe no newsthe walking deadvalveworld of warcraftarkham asylumblizzconcritiquefilmpax eastps3spider-mansteamthe secret worldwarner bros.bioshockblogdarksiders 2devil may cryinfinity wardl.a. noiremoviesportal 2previewps vitarelease datestelltaletomb raidervideo gamesartcomic-conconsoleconventioncrysis 3darksidersdead islanddead space 3duke nukem forevergamescom 2013ipadmetromodern warfare 2new vegasngpnintendopaxpoliticspsnrivalssaints row IVscreenshotssledgehammer gamessquare enixthe witcherthqtransformerstreyarchwiixcom38 studiosRPGalicearkham originsborderlands 2brotherhoodcastingcataclsymcontroversydead spacedelayescapismexpansionfalloutfantastyfirst strikeindiemap packmax payne 3medal of honormultiplayerportalreckoningrumorssingleplayerstarcraft 2unchartedwarhammerwarhammer onlinewatch dogswesternwowxbla3dsMEaliensbackbattlefield 4battlefield bad company 2beachhead studiosbetablack ops 2breachbttfbulletstormcapcomcomic bookscrystal dynamicsdc universe onlinedead space 2dear estherdemodiablodotaduke nukemeberteidoselitefpsfuturegearboxgears of war 3ghostsgrand theft auto 5half-lifehandheldinquisitioniosknights of the old republiclara croftlayoffsmassive entertainmentmetal gear rising revengeancemicrosoftmirror's edgemmorpgmobamortal kombatmortal kombat xmythicnetherrealmnext-gennostalgiaonliveprince of persiapsp2puzzle agent 2rainbow sixraven softwarerayman legendsrespawnrevelationsspikesplinter cellstar wars the old republicstarcraftsuper wiiteaserthe divisionthe runthe witcher 3thieftitanfalltwisted metalvacationvigil2010201120122k games3d3d realmsHDadvanced warfareadventurealien isolationalpha protocolaltairamerican mcgeeapril foolsarenanetarkham knightarpgasiaassassin's creed 3assassin's creed unityatlusbattlefield hardlinebattlefrontbeyond good and evilbillingborderlandsbundlebungiebusycall of duty xpcart lifecatherinecd projekt redchampions onlinechangechristmascinemaclassicalclose quarterscollectionconvictioncounter-strike global offensivecoyote chroniclecreative assemblycs gocyberpunk 2077danny bilsondaredevildark millenium onlineddodealdestinydishonoreddistrict 9donald gloverdota 2downloadabledragonballdsduke nukem 3ddungeons and dragons onlinedurangoeat sleep playen masseepicfictionfighting game communityfirefallfirst classfourth of julyfree to playgamescom 2011gamestationgamestopgdcgifsgiftglasses-freegone homegrand theft autoguild wars 2guillermo del toroguitar herohackedhalohalo 2halo 4heroes of the stormholidayhomefronthypeigfimportin concertingame advertisinginsaneinterviewiphoneirrational gamesjaffejapanjohn williamsjourneykane and lynchkotorlara croft and the guardian of lightlara croft and the temple of osirislawsuitlegacymadness returnsmarvel heroesmarvel vs. capcom 3me2metroidmiddle-eastmidtermsmidwaymommonolithmost wantednarrativenaughty dogncsoftnext generation portablenintendo 3dsnoirobsidianopposing forcesoscarsother moverdraftpackplatformerplatinum gamesplaystation portableproteuspsppuzzlepuzzle agentrainbow six patriotsrainbow six siegerayman originsrebirthred 5remakeremasterresident evil 6resistance 3revealrevelationrise of the tomb raiderrocksteadyrtssaints row the thirdsegasequelsleeping dogssoesoulspicy hosestabbingstimulus packagestorysuper-herosupreme courtsyndicatetalibantechthe a-teamthe last airbenderthe wolf among usthechineseroomtheftthomas crownthreequeltitantriontrontron legacyturbinetvvalentine's dayvideo game awardsvisceral gameswarweb seriesx-menxcom declassifiedxmasNew Sanctuaryhttp://www.newsanctuary.net/noreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)Blogger231125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-5967130036521882380Mon, 12 Oct 2015 22:37:00 +00002015-10-12T15:37:30.505-07:00capcomfighting game communitymortal kombat xnetherrealmpcplaystation 4xbox oneSoCal Regionals, male physical intimacy, and the other side of YOMI Gaming<center><a href=""><img src="http://i0.wp.com/shoryuken.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/scr-2015-banner-622-crop.png" width=1200></a></center><p>I attended the Southern California Regionals this past weekend in Onatrio, CA, which is only a short drive from me. Since the release of Mortal Kombat X in April, I’ve been using it to learn steadily more about fighting games and their community, which I only had an at-a-glance knowledge of based on watching annual EVO streams. Having played MKX almost every day though, I’ve slowly started to learn about things like 50/50 mixups, meter awareness, and what an overhead is. I’ve also started watching more and more streams, following players like YOMI DJT, STB Shujikidink, and cR Honeybee. <p><a name='more'></a>SoCal Regionals was my first fighting game majors, and when I walked into the Ontario Convention Center, instead of the University of California, Irvine, like previous years, it surprised me how small it was. I’m used to attending events like E3, PAX, and Comic-Con, where attendance can hit in the hundreds of thousands, but I’d estimate SoCal Regionals housed about 1,000 people. I was actually confused for the first 10 minutes or so. I walked in and sat down, and seeing all the promotional banners for the Capcom Pro Tour, and figured I was in the wrong ballroom for Mortal Kombat X. But nope, SoCal Regionals was entirely one ballroom. <p>Once the tournament and streams started taking place, the size didn’t matter so much, and many of my ideas about the fighting game community and its players became obsolete. The set up for the main stage was three screens: Smash Bros. on the left, Mortal Kombat X in the center big screen, and Street Fighter on the right screen. Street Fighter players and its audience were definitely the ones making the most noise, and at one point, they had what I can only guess was a hype-man literally running up and down the aisles getting the crowd into matches more as they went on. The Mortal Kombat section would get cheers and applause when big plays happened, but most watched the back-and-forth footies, trying to poke each other for an opening to convert into a big combo. <p>Among all this, one of the things that stood out to me was a sense of male physical intimacy I don’t think I’ve seen at any other kind of event. Players and fans alike slapped hands, giving each other dap, hugging each other, and hanging on each other like they were old high school friends. Sure, some of these players have been competing for a while, and it makes sense that once you start competing regularly, you’re likely to see the same people over and over at each event. But these players seemed more than just friends, they seemed like family. This couldn’t be more true when after Rx DAB clenched his top 8 spot, YOMI Slayer jumped up on stage into his arms like they were brothers, despite being on different teams and competition for each other. For a community focused around aggressive fighting, direct head-to-head competition, and the salt that gets thrown around, there is a lot of love in the fighting game community. <p><center><object bgcolor="#000000" data="http://www.twitch.tv/swflibs/TwitchPlayer.swf" height="378" id="clip_embed_player_flash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="620"><param name="movie" value="http://www.twitch.tv/swflibs/TwitchPlayer.swf" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="flashvars" value="channel=leveluplive&amp;auto_play=false&amp;start_volume=25&amp;videoId=v20052626&amp;device_id=29b5c8c08a9c946d" /></object><br /><a href="http://www.twitch.tv/leveluplive" style="padding:2px 0px 4px; display:block; width: 320px; font-weight:normal; font-size:10px; text-decoration:underline;">Watch live video from leveluplive on Twitch</a></center><p>Speaking of the YOMI boys, I got a fresh new perspective on them after seeing Slayer, Michelangelo, Hitbox Tyrant, and ForeverKing in person. Having watched the YOMI Gaming stream, it’s clear to see why they’re the easy target to hate on. They’re loud, boisterous, arrogant, and cocky. YOMI Gaming has one of the few, what can be described as a gaming house, in the Mortal Kombat X scene, and they almost always have at least one teammate in the top 8 of a majors tournament. But the people I saw in person at SoCal Regionals weren’t loud, arrogant, or elitist. They were humble, friendly, and approachable. They congratulated players whose it was their first time competing in a majors. They hung out in the audience with fans. It really changed my opinion of them as a whole and made YOMI Slayer my pick to win SoCal Regionals, though he lost deservedly to A Foxy Grampa. <p>I came away from SoCal Regionals not only with a better appreciation of Mortal Kombat X and the fighting game community as a whole, but also an appreciation for the players who are able to overcome their nerves and win, and those who don’t let their personas better the better of them when interacting with fellow players and fans. I’d absolutely love to attend more events, though unless it’s local, I can’t see myself attending an event unless I’m competing, which I doubt I’ll be good enough to do one day. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2015/10/socal-regionals-male-physical-intimacy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)123tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-3811098994385601296Sun, 15 Jun 2014 04:30:00 +00002014-06-14T21:32:11.467-07:00battlefield hardlinebetadiceEApcplaystation 4visceral gamesxbox oneThe intimate moments of the Battlefield Hardline beta<center><a href=""><img src="http://i.imgur.com/E3CCBhu.jpg" width=1200></a></center><p><i>Battlefield Hardline</i> is a much more intimate <i>Battlefield</i>. The take on cops and robbers from Visceral takes the <i>Battlefield</i> formula and layers it onto the streets of LA. Instead of jets, tanks, and boats, Hardline fits the mold of the <i>Battlefield</i> series onto urban environments that will only appeal to a fraction of <i>Battlefield</i> fans, but those fans are in for a treat. <p><a name='more'></a><i>Hardline</i> takes the mainstay open maps the <i>Battlefield</i> series and scales them along a few city blocks with a focus on vertically. Right now, the beta only has one map, High Tension, which is set among skyscrapers and freeways near downtown LA. The move from wide maps to a police barricaded urban setting is more than just window dressing, though. Combat favors those in mid to close quarters rather than long-range snipers. If you liked the frantic feel of <i>Close Quarters</i>, the <i>Battlefield 3</i> expansion, <i>Hardline</i> will feel at home. <p>But the difference in <i>Hardline</i> is not just the size of the map. Instead of the series staple of 64 players, <i>Hardline</i> only supports up to 32. On the surface, that seems like a significant downgrade in terms of both the pace and absence of combat. But the smaller sized maps and focus on closer quarter combat makes the smaller player count seem insignificant. Rarely did I spawn into the map without action somewhere near me, and when I did, a vehicle was always nearby to get me there. <p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/S1Iq8zL.jpg" width=1200><p>Vehicles also plays a different role in <i>Hardline</i>, though at the moment this seems more based on how people are playing rather than a design decision by Visceral. High Tension features mostly ground vehicles: motorcycles, vans, cars, SUVs, and one transport helicopter. The keyword there is transport. Players are using vehicles to get back into the action and less for combat. That’s not to say they can’t be used combat, though. The police's mobile commmand post, armored to the teeth, has two guns on each side of it, while the criminals have an SUV with a roof that opens for a turret. <p>With a setting like cops and robbers, the go to maps of <i>Battlefield</i> like conquest and rush wouldn’t have the same dynamic on the smaller scale maps. <i>Hardline</i> introduces two new game modes suited better with the urban warfare setting: Heist and Blood Money. Heist feels directly inspired by Heat. The round starts with an armored truck crashing on the freeway, tumbling over the side onto the street below where criminals have to set a charge on the back of it, blow it open, and steal and escape with the money. Meanwhile, cops are rushing towards the scene in cars and motorcycles, defending the area from criminals, or giving chase once criminals have the money. Blood Money has a stack of cash sitting near the middle of the map, with both sides rushing towards it. Criminals are stealing the money, while cops are securing it for evidence. What makes this mode stand out from a rudimentary capture the flag mode is either team can head to the enemies’ secure drop off and steal from their vault, turning the game almost into cat and mouse. <p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/9FadOjL.jpg" width=1200><p>I could easily be cynical and label <i>Battlefield Hardline</i> a mod for <i>Battlefield 4</i>. It feels similar, runs on the same engine, shares some assets, and even some of the same animations. Police don’t usually carry rocket launchers nor have parachutes for when they jump off the roof of a skyscraper, but they do in <i>Hardline</i>. If I were cynical, I would call the beta for <i>Battlefield Hardline</i> a mod. It only has one map, two game modes, and a limited amount of weapons and vehicles. However, <i>Hardline</i> will be more than one map, more than two game modes, and will include a singleplayer campaign by the developer of the <i>Dead Space</i> series, who might not be the best storytellers, but they probably have a better chance of it than DICE has in the past. For those who enjoy the mid to close quarter combat feel of <i>Battlefield</i>, <i>Battlefield Hardline</i> is more than just a mod and could be a great spin-off in the same vein as <i>Battlefield 2142</i>. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/the-intimate-moments-of-battlefield.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-4370820038720381708Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:32:00 +00002016-07-18T09:16:06.868-07:00biowaree3e3 2014EAmass effecttrailerA look at the next Mass Effect and a new game from BioWare<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/4H1FN2_--EM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>EA's E3 presentation this year was a bit different. While most games were known quantities, some were given stage time even though they're barely into production and were still at the conceptual level. BioWare gave a look at what it's working on for the next <i>Mass Effect</i> game, in development at the BioWare Montreal studio, while the BioWare Edmonton studio gave a look at their new game not set in any previous BioWare franchise. It's a nice to see the early stages of development rarely seen, but at the same time, it's a bit disappointing for a studio like BioWare to come to press conference with nothing substantial to show. There currently is no date for the next <i>Mass Effect</i> game but presumably, it will come to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, while BioWare's other untitled game is still sparse for platforms or timeframe.http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/a-look-at-next-mass-effect-and-new-game.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-6735406084636791235Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:15:00 +00002016-07-18T09:16:44.006-07:00e3e3 2014pcplaystation 4rainbow sixrainbow six siegetrailerubisoftxbox oneDestruction and tactics play a role in Rainbow Six: Siege<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6wlvYh0h63k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Like they have for the past two years with <i>Watch Dogs</i> and <i>The Division</i>, Ubisoft left their last secret for last its E3 presentation this year with <i>Rainbow Six: Siege</i>. After the development limbo that <i>Rainbow Six: Patriots</i> was in, Ubisoft decided to go back to the drawing board and create something more inspired by the tactical roots of the <i>Rainbow Six</i> series. <i>Siege</i> is a multiplayer first game that relies on teamwork and communication in a <i>Counter-Strike</i> styled round-based shooter. Destruction plays a big part, and though the demo above runs on the Anvil Next engine, the small scale of the environment like a two-story house allows the team to create much more dynamic destruction that can give players tactical advantages in a standoff. <i>Rainbow Six: Siege</i> is scheduled to release in 2015 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/destruction-and-tactics-play-role-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-4416356865236242043Thu, 12 Jun 2014 22:01:00 +00002016-07-18T09:17:06.386-07:00e3e3 2014mortal kombatmortal kombat xnetherrealmpcplaystation 3playstation 4trailerwarner bros.xbox 360xbox oneThe many meanings of X in Mortal Kombat X<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ci6lMQNLKZU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>After spending their time with <i>Injustice</i>, NetherRealm Studios is returning to the Mortal Kombat franchise with the 10th installment, simply called <i>Mortal Kombat X</i>. The announcement trailer above shows off the vision they're going for with brutal hits and interactivity within stages. GameSpot has a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhu4Fu-nQKQ">video</a> of gameplay which was shown during the Sony E3 presentation. Creative director Ed Boon stated <i>Mortal Kombat X</i> is a continuation from Mortal Kombat in 2011 and the story goes as far 25 years into the future, introducing some new characters such as D'Vorah, Ferra/Torr, Kotal Kahn, and Cassie Cage, the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. <i>Mortal Kombat X</i> is releasing in 2015 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/the-many-meanings-of-x-in-mortal-kombat.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-7280205172428098632Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:04:00 +00002016-07-18T09:18:32.316-07:00arkham knightbatmane3e3 2014pcplaystation 4rocksteadytrailerwarner bros.xbox oneConcrete is no match for the Batmobile in Batman: Arkham Knight<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pO2_iUkojCY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Rocksteady returns to its Batman series with <i>Arkham Knight</i>, taking a more original approach with a new antagonist and incorporates the Batmobile. The gameplay video above highlights how the Batmobile moves, especially in combat with its ability to strafe left at right. When in driving mode, the power of the Batmobile shines through, plowing through barriers as if they were made of styrofoam. And while the Scarecrow is being positioned as the main villain of the game, the Arkham Knight looks to be taking the role of making Batman's job harder as he takes a more militaristic approach to crime in Gotham. <i>Batman: Arkham Knight</i> was originally slated for late 2014 but was pushed back to 2015 when it will come for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/concrete-is-no-match-for-batmobile-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-2886792290494768855Thu, 12 Jun 2014 04:53:00 +00002016-07-18T09:19:12.150-07:00e3e3 2014massive entertainmentpcplaystation 4the divisiontrailerubisoftxbox oneThe Division paints a gruesome picture of Christmas in New York<center><iframe width="896 " height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/JhBAc6DYiys" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Ubisoft gave another look at their upcoming MMO shooter The Division at both the Microsoft E3 presentation and its own E3 presentation this year. In the gameplay video above, a team cascades down on a base of operations, taking it from opposition through teamwork, tactics, and planning. A careful eye will spot one of the players on the team of four is supporting through use of a tablet as he uses drones and turrets. Ubisoft also released a cinematic trailer, as seen below, highlighting the narrative connotations for why the players will be fighting in The Division. The use of stop-motion and the small ambient details paint a picture that lets your mind fill in the gaps of how gruesome life is after what remains. The Division, which originally was slated for a late 2014 late, is now pushed back to 2015 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and, thanks to a <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/08/the-division-coming-to-pc-afterall.html">petition</a>, PC. <p><a name='more'></a><center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/yPq_NVi-TC4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/the-division-paints-gruesome-picture-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-7529549917007541626Wed, 11 Jun 2014 22:48:00 +00002016-07-18T09:31:52.908-07:00dicee3e3 2014EAmirror's edgepcplaystation 4trailerxbox oneA conceptual look at the next Mirror's Edge<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TYtlSqIPO7k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>It's been a year since DICE showed off anything about the next <i>Mirror's Edge</i> game. Rather than show a normal CG trailer, they elected for a more conceptual look, talking about some of the ways they're building off the first <i>Mirror's Edge</i>. The main things they focus on are movement through the environment, looking at the world as a puzzle to solve through parkour. That parkour also plays into combat, using acrobatic moves and geometry to get the upper hand against enemies. The video doesn't show a gun in Faith's hands at any point, only in enemies', so hopefully it will stay that way into the final game. While DICE didn't announce a release date for the next <i>Mirror's Edge</i>, it is known that it will be coming to the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/a-conceptual-look-at-next-mirrors-edge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-3096827375113147664Wed, 11 Jun 2014 22:24:00 +00002016-07-18T09:31:38.084-07:00biowaredragon agee3e3 2014EAinquisitionpcplaystation 4trailerxbox oneThe dual sides of combat in Dragon Age: Inquisition<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/WD627y_AvFs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>BioWare showed off more of <i>Dragon Age: Inquisition</i> at the Microsoft E3 presentation with a focus on the action gameplay, as seen in the new trailer above. During the EA E3 presentation, however, they went deeper into the mechanics of combat, highlighting the tactical mode, where combat can be paused and the player can issue commands as in previous <i>Dragon Age</i> games. GameSpot has a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQQtOiFOYtk">video</a> showing more action-orientated combat where the camera takes an over-the-shoulder third-person view of the battle. <i>Dragon Age: Inquisition</i> releases for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on October 7.http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/the-dual-sides-of-combat-in-dragon-age.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-552172057325037647Wed, 11 Jun 2014 22:03:00 +00002016-07-18T09:24:15.164-07:00cd projekt rede3e3 2014pcplaystation 4the witcher 3trailerxbox oneMonster hunting finally comes to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HtVdAasjOgU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Geralt of Rivera, the White Wolf, is a Witcher, a monster hunter. But beyond narrative concessions, there hasn’t been much actual hunting of monsters in a <i>Witcher</i> game. That changes with <i>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</i>. GameSpot has a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BivVXw-NLTw">video</a> of the gameplay segment CD Projekt RED showed off during the Microsoft E3 presentation, where Geralt sets off tracking a griffin. Using his heightened senses, he follows the griffin through an area of the open-world called No Man’s Land, until finally coming to battle with the griffin. <i>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</i> is the conclusion to CD Projekt RED’s <i>Witcher</i> series and releases for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC on February 24, 2015. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/monster-hunting-finally-comes-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-6937801675905739742Wed, 11 Jun 2014 20:12:00 +00002016-07-18T09:24:42.193-07:00crystal dynamicse3e3 2014lara croftlara croft and the temple of osirispcplaystation 4rise of the tomb raidersquare enixtomb raidertrailerxbox oneSquare Enix announces two new Tomb Raider sequels<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PhGEFLcPHsY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Not only did Square Enix announce a sequel to 2013's <i>Tomb Raider</i>, <i>Rise of the Tomb Raider</i>, during the Microsoft E3 presentation, but during the post-show on Spike, they also announced another sequel, <i>Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris</i>. The announcement trailer for <i>Rise of the Tomb Raider</i> shows Lara with a therapist, talking over her frustrations and anxieties over what happened in the previous game. It might be an interesting framing device if that's how <i>Rise of the Tomb Raider</i> is structured, but it works well enough for the trailer. Supposedly, the name <i>Rise of Tomb Raider</i> implies there will be a lot more focus on tombs and exploring in the sequel than the first game. <i>Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris</i>, however, is a follow-up to <i>Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light</i>, which I <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2010/10/lara-croft-and-guardian-of-light-review.html">reviewed</a> when it came out in 2010. It's an isometric puzzle platformers with twin-stick shooter controls, and with up to four player co-op now instead of just two, I can only imagine how complex and intricate the puzzles will be. <i>Rise of the Tomb Raider</i> is scheduled for holiday 2015 for, presumably, the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, while <i>Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris</i> has no date announced yet, but has been confirmed for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. <p><a name='more'></a><center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pKJDYipXa_8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/square-enix-announces-two-new-tomb.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-4391020728567608564Tue, 10 Jun 2014 18:45:00 +00002016-07-18T09:25:18.442-07:00assassin's creedassassin's creed unitye3e3 2014pcplaystation 4trailerubisoftxbox oneAssassin's Creed Unity features co-op and crowds<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6Og9q-i98E4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>While <i>Assassin's Creed</i> is an annual franchise, it still finds way to set itself apart each year. This year's <i>Assassin's Creed Unity</i> does that by moving the setting to Paris during the French Revolution and introduces a new assassin, Arno Dorian. <i>Unity</i> has a big focus on crowds, as can be seen in the singleplayer demo above. Navigation seems to be streamlined as well, making the transition from rooftop to ground quicker and smoother. But <i>Assassin's Creed Unity</i> also incorporates a co-op feature, a natural evolution of the Wolfpack mode from <i>Assassin's Creed 3</i>, allowing you to go on missions with three others to create interesting and new assassination techniques. You can see a demo of a co-op mission below. And because <i>Assassin's Creed</i> games always have trailers set to succinct music, you can also watch the <i>Assassin's Creed Unity</i> cinematic trailer set to Lorde's cover of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." <i>Assassin's Creed Unity</i> releases for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and (tentatively) PC on October 28. <p><a name='more'></a><center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RpJ6GICqQyc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p><center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-ohFulrJKhI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/assassins-creed-unity-features-co-op.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-2143193580598152567Tue, 10 Jun 2014 18:10:00 +00002016-07-18T09:25:31.399-07:00activisionadvanced warfarecall of dutye3e3 2014pcplaystation 3playstation 4sledgehammer gamestrailerxbox 360xbox oneCall of Duty jumps into the future with Advanced Warfare<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1sRUZ9p4oYQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>Sledgehammer Games is finally getting their hand in the <i>Call of Duty</i> series this year with <i>Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare</i>. As the name implies, the setting is pushed into the future to 2054 where exoskeletons, hover bikes, drones, and jetpacks are all part of your arsenal. The gameplay trailer, titled Induction, debuted at the Microsoft E3 conference and highlights the new engine designed specifically for current-generation consoles, while High Moon Studios is working on the previous-generation versions. <i>Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare</i> will release for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 4.http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/06/call-of-duty-jumps-into-future-with.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-817269193933635203Mon, 17 Mar 2014 23:17:00 +00002014-03-17T20:35:45.133-07:00moviesneed for speedthe runThe spirit of Need for Speed<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/03/the-spirit-of-need-for-speed.html"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/UdtM0EW.jpg" width=1200></a><p>Over the weekend, I saw <i>Need for Speed</i>. <p>Typically, movies based on video games turn out to be a mess, mostly because the cast and crew try to strike a balance between being faithful to the source material, while also trying to make it open to wider audiences who generally have no idea about the game it’s based on. For example, the last movie I saw based on a video game was <i>Prince of Persia</i> back in 2010, and as far as I remember, there were no ostrich races in the 2003 game. <p><a name='more'></a>But as I sat in the theater as the credits rolled for <i>Need for Speed</i>, I wondered: What is the spirit of <i>Need for Speed</i>? Since <i>Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed</i> released in 1994, what is the thing that all <i>Need for Speed</i> games have? <p>They have exotic cars and police chases. <p>With the exception of a few games, every <i>Need for Speed</i> game has a variety of exotic cars including Porsches, Vipers, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, and Bugattis. The <i>Need for Speed</i> movie has exotic cars by the boatload, half of which I couldn’t pronounce. The last race is like an exotic car dream list, showing off the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, Koenigsegg Agera R, Bugatti Veyron, GTA Spano, and the McLaren P1. From that angle, <i>Need for Speed</i> is one of the few car movies to feature exotic cars, not vintage muscle cars or tuner cars. <p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Pkuh39U.jpg" width=1200><p>And while not every game has them, the latest tent pole of <i>Need for Speed</i> is cops. First introduced in <i>Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit</i>, almost every <i>Need for Speed</i> game in the last five years has featured some kind of police-chase element, and so too does the <i>Need for Speed</i> movie. Unfortunately, there are no police versions of any of the exotic cars. You won’t see police driving Lamborghinis and Ferraris to chase racers. They do mention spike strips and roadblocks, small references to the police mechanics particularly in <i>Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit</i>. <p><i>Need for Speed</i>, in a sense, is exactly what it needs to be. Going in, I wasn’t exactly sure what I was expecting, but as I sat there, watching the credits roll, realizing <i>Need for Speed</i> is about fast exotic cars and police chases, I felt satisfied. Whether it was good or bad, I couldn’t tell you. Are the <i>Fast and Furious</i> movies good or bad? Does it matter? <i>Need for Speed</i> feels like a less playful, more serious <i>Fast and Furious</i>, but with exotic cars instead of muscle or tuner cars, and police chases. <p>It’s based on a game series, but about the closest thing it takes from those games I could point at is the second act where the main characters have to get from New York to California in 45 hours, which is almost exactly the same plot for <i>Need for Speed The Run</i>. It felt restrained, as if it could have gone over-the-top, but decided not to. <i>Need for Speed</i>, though, as a video game movie, took exactly as much of the video game it’s based on it needed, and left the rest behind. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/03/the-spirit-of-need-for-speed.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-6209133109856563392Fri, 17 Jan 2014 01:22:00 +00002014-01-16T17:28:23.089-08:00assassin's creedassassin's creed 4black flagdiary of an assassinplaylistDiary of an Assassin - Twelfth Entry<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/diary-of-assassin-twelfth-entry.html"><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img268/6038/l6us.png" width=1200></a><p>Welcome to Abstergo Entertainment. <p>Every <i>Assassin’s Creed</i> game has some kind of modern-setting component to it. The first <i>Assassin’s Creed</i> had small intermission sequences with Dr. Vidic and Lucy resulting in a more-questions-than-answers ending with <a href="http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Cryptic_Messages">cryptologic glyphs</a>. <i>Assassin’s Creed 2</i> had Desmond training to become an assassin leading up to a confrontation with Dr. Vidic once again during the end credits. <i>Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood</i> had you renovating the Villa Auditore and traveling under the Coliseum to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_in_Aracoeli">Santa Maria in Aracoeli</a>. <p><i>Assassin’s Creed: Revelations</i> took place entirely within the animus with the exception of a cutscene at the very end. <i>Assassin’s Creed 3</i> finally realized Desmond as an assassin in the modern day, jumping off skyscrapers in New York and a mission in Brazil before heading back to Abstergo to rescue Desmond’s father and take out Dr. Vidic. <p><a href="http://imageshack.com/a/img7/833/vzzn.jpg"><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img7/833/vzzn.jpg" align=left HSPACE=5 width=320></a>The modern setting of <i>Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag</i> takes place at Abstergo Entertainment, the game studio branch of Abstergo that’s hinted in the multiplayer mode of <i>Assassin’s Creed 3</i>. You play as a nameless employee gathering memories from a ‘generous donor’ (Desmond) to create a new pirate game. Yes, this effectively means <i>Black Flag</i> is taking place within itself as Abstergo Entertainment is a weird pseudo-replacement for Ubisoft Montreal, even though it’s specifically noted that Abstergo Entertainment is working with publisher Ubisoft. <p><a href="http://imageshack.com/a/img600/671/dlxj.jpg"><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img600/671/dlxj.jpg" align=right HSPACE=5 width=320></a>It sounds bizarre and silly, but it works meticulously. The studio is littered with copies of <i>Assassin’s Creed 3</i> and <i>Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation</i>, a few nerf guns, even an <i>Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag</i> art book. They even take it a step further; as you explore the studio, you’ll find market research and focus group testing on prospective protagonists for their next project, as you can see above. It’s probably the most fantastically simulated game studio I’ve ever seen. <p>What makes this all work as a premise is the perspective. Whereas in previous games you’ve always played from an assassin point of view, <i>Black Flag</i> is through the eyes of templars. They view themselves as the ones doing good, with the assassin order corrupting minds. Ultimately though, the modern day story is a stop-gap. By the time you finish scrubbing through Edward Kenway’s memories, and a trailer is produced for the project you’re working on, the only thing that’s happened between the templars and assasssins is you handing off some Abstergo data to Shaun and Rebecca. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/diary-of-assassin-twelfth-entry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-4391561324637769149Tue, 14 Jan 2014 04:57:00 +00002014-01-14T00:32:17.164-08:00metal gear rising revengeancepcplatinum gamesplaystation 3reviewxbox 360Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance review - slice and dice<a href="www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/metal-gear-rising-revengeance-review.html"><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img812/8566/qfzb.jpg" width=1200></a><p>I’ve never played a <i>Metal Gear</i> game before. The closest I’ve ever come is playing the beginning of the original <i>Metal Gear</i> on the NES, which held my attention for all of about five minutes before I took the cartridge out and replaced it with <i>Super Mario Bros. 3</i>. <i>Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance</i>, a spin-off of the <i>Metal Gear Solid</i> series, recently released for PC almost a year after its console release, and for someone like me it’s the perfect window into the <i>Metal Gear</i> series. <p><a name='more'></a>My biggest concern going into <i>Revengeance</i> was its overreliance on past games’ storylines and narratives to tell its own story. Thankfully, that doesn’t happen. <i>Revengeance</i> contextualizes the series into its own self-contained world that works better if you know of the <i>Metal Gear</i> series, rather than knowing about it. There are mentions here and there of <a href="http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Sons_of_the_Patriots"></a>SOP and <a href="http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Private_military_company">PMCs</a>, but I never did feel like I was missing a piece of the puzzle for the story to make sense. Well, as much sense as any Kojima game does. <p><i>Revengeance</i> is through and through a character action game in the same vein as <i>Devil May Cry</i> and <i>Bayonetta</i>. Hell, it’s from the same developer as <i>Bayonetta</i>, Platinum Games. With that pedigree, it was a forgone conclusion the pads of my thumbs would feel sore after each play session. Button combinations made Raiden feel unflinching and almost callous. Limbs would often go flying different directions as Raiden’s sword slices through the bone, metal, and sinew of enemies. <i>Revengeance</i> is the fastest and most brutal character action game I’ve played, and the parry system makes this all possible. <p>Unlike most character action games that use dodge as a defensive mechanic, <i>Revengeance</i> uses a parry system, requiring you to use light attack in the direction of the incoming attack. Dodging an attack can give a break to the cadence of combat, the way it flows from strike to strike, but parrying an attack doesn’t allow for that break. The clang of weapons clashing continues, unrelenting, and makes the combat feel intense even when fighting a non-boss enemy. <p><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img202/7250/q3ik.jpg" width=1200><p>But let me tell you about the joy of blade mode. <p>The first time I reached the boss Monsoon, I still hadn’t figured out the quirks of the parry system. It was a struggle to reach his second stage, where he hops up on the columns outside World Marshall HQ. He used his magnetic force to throw an armored transport at me, and as it approached me, the symbol for zandatsu appeared on the right side of the screen. I pressed the left trigger on my Xbox 360 gamepad, and everything went into slow motion, almost to the point of standstill. I wiggled the left analog stick back and forth, cutting the transport into parts, and parts, and still more parts. I looked over to my fuel cell bar, and it wasn’t going down. <p>I was in blade mode indefinitely until I let go of the left trigger. That only made me hold the left trigger harder as I moved the left analog stick back and forth more, cutting and slicing the transport into more parts. I smiled as I saw at around 300 parts, my constant framerate of 60fps began to chug as it had trouble keeping track of all the parts. My mouth opened at around 500 partswhen I was dipping below 30fps, but still I held the left trigger, seeing how far I could go. At more than 700 parts, the transport now chopped up into finely shredded pieces of metal, my framerate wept at just barely 11fps before I finally let go of the trigger, the ground raining in what used to be a transport. The more the framerate dropped, so did my jaw, until the pitter-patter of metal fell against the pavement. <p><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img513/8286/wy91.jpg" width=1200><p>It was the same kind of joy as I received from playing <i>Diablo 3</i> last year, when so many big damage numbers would appear on the screen my framerate would dip. It’s the reassuring kind of joy to know games like <i>Revengeance</i> aren’t just making things look fancy, but actually doing the math and calculating out the physics and dimensions for each of those pieces I cut. <p>In spite of blade mode, a few parts of <i>Revengeance</i> did feel clunky and frustrating. The sub-weapons, practically everything besides your sword, are hidden in a sub menu, making on-the-fly weapons switching impossible. The unique weapons did work wonders for certain aspects of combat; the polearm for area attacks, the sai for ranged attacks, and the pincers for heavy attacks. But trying to switch from one to another broke that cadence of combat I spoke about. Even though I spent my battle points on unlocking all of the unique weapons, I spent most of my time with one equipped until I needed a different kind of attack, rarely switching back and forth between more than one kind. <p>It also took me the longest time to get used to the way the camera handles Raiden’s and enemy’s positioning. It wasn’t until about three-fourths of the way through <i>Revengeance</i> I discovered the lock-on button, making parrying a bit more manageable. Blade wolf, and particularly the gekko intermission phase, took at least 50 tries. It was hard enough to learn how to parry the first time it mattered, but when enemies attack from off-screen and I can’t tell which direction they’re attacking me from, and in turn unable to decipher which direction to push towards to parry, it becomes infuriating, especially when it’s essentially the first boss. <p><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img5/5637/ok9p.jpg" width=1200><p>The boss fights are the star of the show, however. They’re fun, creative, a bit silly, and more useful to learn game mechanics from than most of the tutorials. As I already mentioned, the Blade Wolf and Monsoon fights taught me how to parry more effectively, while the Sundowner and Jetstream fights emphasizes precision and patience. When I finally figured out each boss’s pattern and design, and the lyrics in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLvgvsI5jAg">cheesy music kicked in</a>, it reminded me of playing <i>Sonic Adventure</i> on my Dreamcast, adding in a non-existent nostalgia factor that made each fight satisfying to play. <p>After reaching the final boss, I asked friends if, with no prior experience with <i>Metal Gear</i> games, this is what essentially a Hideo Kojima game is about: A cyborg ninja and the main villain arguing political philosophy on top of a giant robot. The answer was a majority yes, leading me to try to explore the convoluted storyline of the <i>Metal Gear</i> series. But after so many Snakes, Bosses, and one too many mentions of nanomachines, I’ll stick to just <i>Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance</i> and hope there’s a sequel in the future. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/metal-gear-rising-revengeance-review.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-6811116510160032271Fri, 10 Jan 2014 06:06:00 +00002014-01-09T22:09:30.564-08:00assassin's creedassassin's creed 4black flagdiary of an assassinplaylistDiary of an Assassin - Eleventh Entry<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/diary-of-assassin-eleventh-entry.html"><img src="http://imageshack.com/a/img5/2914/vimy.jpg" width=1200></a><p><i>Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag</i> doesn’t waste any time introducing you to Edward Kenway. With the sound a boom, you’re on the deck of a ship, cannons firing back and forth in the middle of a storm as Ubisoft puts its naval combat front and center. There’s no cutscene to show who his family is, where he came from, or what his motivations are. Kenway is a pirate, out for riches and himself and that’s all you really need to know about him. <p>There is an exception to this, of course. There are a few flashbacks to his earlier life with his love Caroline Scott, showing how her father didn’t approve of Kenway. It’s a stark contrast to compare Kenway to the other assassins of Desmond’s lineage. I spent a good chunk of time getting to know Ezio’s family, and in turn, their deaths being his motivations for becoming an assassin. I spent even more time with Conner and his family. I spent time as his father, Haythem Kenway, Edward’s son, as Conner when he was a child and Templars killed his mother, as a teenager, and as an adult. <p>Altair is the only assassin who comes close to having as little backstory as Edward. I know Altair was a master assassin, <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2012/10/diary-of-assassin-second-entry.html">before being demoted to a novice for breaking the assassin’s creed</a> and essentially being too cocky, but before that, not much is known. <p>The short introduction to Edward is a far cry from Conner’s introduction in <i>Assassin’s Creed 3</i>, and almost feels like a direct response to it. For the most part, I liked <i>Assassin’s Creed 3</i>, particularly it’s time and place during the American Revolutionary War. But its long, drawn-out, and <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2012/12/diary-of-assassin-seventh-entry.html">unreliable</a> introduction set a pace that made the rest of it feel arduous. It’s near eight-hour introduction left me feeling like I was already halfway done with it before even starting. <i>Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag</i> slims the introduction to Edward and the Caribbean down to maybe three hours. Once you get your ship, it’s clear sailing from there. <p>Through the process of completing missions, recruiting crewmates, and upgrading your ship, it’s almost glaringly obvious Edward was written to invoke the vibe of Ezio, and I’m ok with that. Ezio is, without contest, the <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2012/11/diary-of-assassin-third-entry.html">best protagonist</a> the <i>Assassin’s Creed</i> series has seen, no small thanks to having three games dedicated to him. But Edward Kenway nicely fits in at no. 2. His selfish attitude and lust for wealth is just what was needed, and the way he plays sides, assassins and templars, makes his tale intriguing and unique among Desmond’s ancestor. <p>Intriguing and unique are also the words I would use to describe the real world setting of <i>Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag</i>, and it’s probably the thing I’m most excited to talk about, but I’ll save that for the next entry. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/diary-of-assassin-eleventh-entry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-306772123060295484Wed, 08 Jan 2014 02:42:00 +00002016-07-18T09:25:44.521-07:00alien isolationcreative assemblypcplaystation 3playstation 4revealsegatrailerxbox 360xbox oneAlien: Isolation - The difference an S can make.<iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/XTrS8KvFfRo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><p>Remember how <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/02/the-first-30-minutes-of-aliens-colonial.html">terrible <i>Aliens: Colonial Marines</i> turned out to be</a>? From its retconning narrative that conflicted with the films, despite its position as the official sequel, to its stilted animations and unspectacular gameplay, it unquestionably set a low-point for the <i>Aliens</i> franchise in video games. <p>Back in October of last year, Sega <a href="http://kotaku.com/source-the-next-aliens-game-stars-ellen-ripleys-daugh-1449318113">copyrighted</a> the name of the next <i>Aliens</i> game, <i>Alien: Isolation</i>. The reveal trailer for it released today and it might be the <i>Aliens</i> game we’ve always wanted. <p><i>Alien: Isolation</i> takes places 15 years after the events of <i>Alien</i>, where you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley. As a Weyland-Yutani engineer, Amanda takes a mission to recover the black box of the Nostromo, the last ship her mother served on. When Amanda arrives at Sevastopol space station where the black box is located, things start to go bad. <p>One of the main things that makes <i>Alien: Isolation</i> stand out from past <i>Aliens</i> games is that it has more to do with <i>Alien</i> than <i>Aliens</i>. It’s a survival horror game, not a first-person shooter. You don’t have a gun or any other way to defend yourself other than hiding in lockers or other compartments similar to <i>Amnesia: The Dark Descent</i>. There’s no HUD with a motion tracker, though you can hold one up to see if anything is nearby similar to the flashlight in <i>Doom 3</i>. And there’s only one alien on the space station, stalking you the entire time similar to Nemesis in <i>Resident Evil 3: Nemesis</i>. <p>Creative Assembly looks to be finding a way to capture the vibe of great horror games and combine them into <i>Alien: Isolation</i>. I never would have thought the developer behind the <i>Total War</i> series would make something so intriguing. Take a look at <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/alien-isolation-preview-hands-on-with-creative-assemblys-ambitious-sci-fi-horror/">PC Gamer’s preview</a>, which covers the built-from-scratch engine Creative Assembly is using and how the alien is completely AI driven, which makes sense given their <i>Total War</i> background. <i>Alien: Isolation</i> is scheduled for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC sometime late 2014. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2014/01/alien-isolation-difference-s-can-make.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-1956073645360963218Tue, 10 Dec 2013 22:16:00 +00002013-12-10T14:16:24.418-08:00assassin's creedassassin's creed 4black flagdiary of an assassinplaylistDiary of an Assassin - Tenth Entry<center><a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/12/diary-of-assassin-tenth-entry.html"><img src="http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/5728/j8ov.jpg" width=1200></a></center><p>Well, it seems like the <i>Assassin’s Creed</i> franchise decides when it’s time for me to upgrade. I originally started writing this series because I had to <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2012/10/diary-of-assassin-first-entry.html">upgrade my computer to be able to play the first <i>Assassin’s Creed</i></a>. Since then I’ve played through all five games, seeing the changes from one to the next, with each one playing silky smooth. That is, until <i>Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag</i>. <p>From the first scene, <i>Black Flag</i> told me, “Hey, I’m going to tax your system.” The naval battle at night in the rain chugged along; dipping to 30 frames per second at times, no thanks to the way the AnvilNext engine handles vertical sync. I spent about a week at the area above tweaking settings, trying different anti-aliasing options, seeing if I could squeak out extra frames by turning down shadows, foliage, god-rays, and other environment effects. <p>I built my computer in November 2011, and by 2013, it was already showing signs of age. So I did what I thought any other PC player would do gain a bit of power without spending extra money: I overclocked, further. When I built my system, I overclocked my i5-2500K from its factory setting of 3.3GHz to 4.0GHz with a third-party cooler. This was my first time ever trying to overclock something, so I thought that was decent. Doing more research, I found the i5-2500K was stable enough most people could overclock to 4.0GHz using just the stock cooler, and with third-party coolers, it could reach up to 4.8GHz. <p>In order to make sure conditions were right for overclocking, I cleaned out my system of any dust or particles, cleaning up around the desk area, and in general making the area cooler for the system to run. With that, I bumped up the CPU to 4.5GHz and ran a few stress tests to make sure it was stable. Once it was, I also dug into overclocking my EVGA GeForce GTX 570. I used MSI Afterburner to bump it up from its default settings of 732MHz core clock, 1464MHz shader clock, and 1900MHz memory clock, to a core clock of 850MHz, 1700MHz shader clock, and 2000MHz memory clock. <p>What this all essentially means is I gained about 10-15 extra frames per second while playing <i>Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag</i>, making gameplay range anywhere from 45 to 60 frames per second, which makes for a vastly better game experience. I also was able to stave off having to upgrade for another few months until Watch Dogs releases. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/12/diary-of-assassin-tenth-entry.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-4165225777475567529Mon, 28 Oct 2013 22:36:00 +00002013-10-28T15:36:25.264-07:00iosmacpcplaystation 3ps vitareviewtelltale gamesthe wolf among usxbox 360The Wolf Among Us review - game noir<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/the-wolf-among-us-review-game-noir.html"><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img843/6600/skp6.png" width=1200></a><p>I’ve never read a single issue of the Fables comic, but that makes me the perfect audience for <i>The Wolf Among Us</i>. <p>It takes a simple premise and flips it on its side. All the fairy tales we heard about as kids, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Jack and the beanstalk, they’re all real. But rather than living happily ever after, they were forced from their homes by ‘The Adversary’ and now live in a place called Fabletown in New York City, where they live among normal people hiding their true identities with spells called glamour making make them look human. <p><a name='more'></a>No one is living happily ever after in Fabletown, though. It’s a dark and sleazy place where spotty yellow streetlights illuminate a boulevard of broken dreams in between abandoned alleyways and neon pink signs advertising live nude girls. <i>The Wolf Among Us</i> looks as if someone dipped a brush in paint can of 1980s comic book colors and splattered it across the screen, nailing down even the dotted look of Bigby’s beard. It’s impressive considering all of this is in the same engine Telltale has been using since 2005. <p><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img34/73/66h1.png" width=1200><p>And while <i>The Wolf Among Us</i> may look unique, it plays unabashedly familiar. If you played last year’s <i>The Walking Dead</i> from Telltale, you’ll know exactly what I mean. You play as Bigby, the reformed Big Bad Wolf, now sheriff of Fabletown. After a gruesome murder, you must find clues, track down leads, and talk to suspects all in the same vein as <i>The Walking Dead</i>. Your choices again can lead you down different paths, but ultimately they wind back around, to the same shattering end, which is even more intriguing if you have read the Fables comic series. <p>Bigby himself, however, walks a narrower moral path than Lee from <i>The Walking Dead</i> did, giving him a wider array to either assume his peace-keeping position as sheriff, or abuse his power to get what he wants. While Telltale kept Lee’s background mostly a mystery that players have the chance to shape, the Big Bad Wolf is a known entity. He’s done terrible things, and while his past crimes are forgiven, they’re not forgotten. This gives considerable leeway in the way he can interact with other characters from giving Mr. Toad a break and only admonishing him for not having a glamour, to literally ripping an arm off during a bar fight. <p><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img845/5471/n9ud.png" width=1200><p>It’s hard to think Telltale could match last year’s <i>The Walking Dead</i> in terms of quality storytelling with both of its lead writers, Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin, leaving to form their own studio. But <i>The Wolf Among Us</i> manages to form a fluid and coherent narrative that’s on par, if not more consistent than <i>The Walking Dead</i>. At its core, it’s a noir detective story in a world with fantastical characters and magic, yet it still feels grounded and plausible. Apart from the occasionally frog here and there, it’s a game defined by fairy tale characters who look human and try to make human choices. <p><i>The Wolf Among Us</i>, and by extension Fabletown, is filled with mystery and intrigue among its characters. Not only did it leave me wanting to see how Telltale represents other fairy tale characters, but also how they play into the story and their interaction with Bigby. Setting up a world the player wants to come back to is hard, especially when making that world seem dark and gritty. <i>The Wolf Among Us</i> finds a way to implement that undertone against the background of normally cheery and happy fairy tale characters, while not coming off as a flimsy, cheap trick. I’m invested enough to see where this goes, now take me on a tale. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/the-wolf-among-us-review-game-noir.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-7681144977730328846Thu, 17 Oct 2013 22:54:00 +00002013-10-17T15:58:01.806-07:002k gamesbioshock infinitelayoffsxcom declassifiedLayoffs at 2K Marin<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/layoffs-at-2k-marin.html"><img src="http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4605/h1h3.jpg" width=1200></a><p><i>BioShock 2</i> and <i>The Bureau: XCOM Declassified</i> developer 2K Marin has been hit with layoffs today. Official numbers are unknown but a source told <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/17/4849484/the-bureau-xcom-declassified-dev-2k-marin-undergoing-layoffs">Polygon</a> the “majority” of the studio has been let go. <p>According to the source, the only developers safe from layoffs were those already in transition moving the new 2K studio in the Bay Area under former <i>BioShock Infinite</i> producer Rod Ferguson. <p>A 2K Games representative said, “We can confirm staff reductions at 2K Marin. While these were difficult decisions, we regularly evaluate our development efforts and have decided to reallocate creative resources. Our goal to create world-class video game titles remains unchanged.” <p>One former employee took to Twitter stating he is no longer employed by 2K Games. <p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>As of today, I am no longer employed by 2K.</p>&mdash; Michael Kamper (@michael_kamper) <a href="https://twitter.com/michael_kamper/statuses/390913343898533888">October 17, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center><p>Former 2K designer Steve Gaynor, co-founder of The Fullbright Company, reacted to the news on Twitter, sending out condolences to those affected. <p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Word is the remaining staff at 2K Marin got clipped. Sorry to hear it, and hope they land well. Was honored to work there with such talent.</p>&mdash; Steve Gaynor (@fullbright) <a href="https://twitter.com/fullbright/statuses/390937262952681472">October 17, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>I was I think employee.. 16? At 2KMarin? Was amazing to see such talent in one place, and what so many have accomplished since. Godspeed all</p>&mdash; Steve Gaynor (@fullbright) <a href="https://twitter.com/fullbright/statuses/390937584102166528">October 17, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center>http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/layoffs-at-2k-marin.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-5932423420320396616Thu, 17 Oct 2013 22:04:00 +00002016-07-18T09:26:03.703-07:00blizzardblizzcondotaheroes of the stormmobaBlizzard All-Stars is now Heroes of the Storm<center><iframe width="896" height="504" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/eThSo670cas" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></center><p>The Blizzard themed MOBA, which first debuted as Blizzard DOTA then renamed to Blizzard All-Stars following Valve’s development of <i>Dota 2</i>, has a new name again: <i>Heroes of the Storm</i>. <p>“Yep, we’ve changed it again,” reads the description of the video above debuting the new name. <p><i>Heroes of the Storm</i> first appeared a <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2013/10/02/blizzard-files-heroes-of-the-storm-trademark-application/">few weeks ago</a> when Blizzard filed for a trademark for the name, leading to speculation that it might be the name of the next <i>World of Warcraft</i> expansion. <p>The video description also says to, “Set aside whatever you think you knew about Blizzard All-Stars,” as more information will be released at Blizzard’s upcoming BlizzCon on Nov. 8 and 9 in Anaheim, Calif., where it assumingly will be playable. <p>I played Blizzard DOTA at BlizzCon 2011 when it was still called Blizzard DOTA. It was the first time I’d ever played a MOBA. You can read my impressions <a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2011/11/blizzard-dota-according-to-dota-virgin.html">here</a>. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/blizzard-all-stars-is-now-heroes-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-3929966518496441941Wed, 16 Oct 2013 03:35:00 +00002013-10-15T20:35:31.408-07:00assassin's creed 4black flagdelayneed for speedpcrivalsubisoftwatch dogsWatch Dogs delayed to spring 2014<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/watch-dogs-delayed-to-spring-2014.html"><img src="http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/1094/hkaz.jpg" width=1200></a><p>Ubisoft announced the delay of <i>Watch Dogs</i>, its open-world game set in Chicago, to spring 2014 today on their <a href="http://blog.ubi.com/watch-dogs-delay/">blog</a>. When it was first shown at Ubisoft’s E3 2012 press conference, <i>Watch Dogs</i> was synonymous with next-gen, heading the charge of the new comes that are now less than a month away. <p>“Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming. It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until spring 2014.” <p>According to the post, Ubisoft is using the extra time on polish to closer deliver on their desired quality. <p>“We know a lot of you are probably wondering: Why now? We struggled with whether we would delay the game. But from the beginning, we have adopted the attitude that we will not compromise on quality. As we got closer to release, as all the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place in our last push before completion, it became clear to us that we needed to take the extra time to polish and fine tune each detail so we can deliver a truly memorable and exceptional experience.” <p><i>Watch Dogs</i> was originally slated to release on November 19 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U, and PC with Xbox One and PlayStation 4 version launching alongside those consoles. It will now release sometime in spring of 2014. The push to spring leaves November 19 open to <i>Need for Speed: Rivals</i> and the PC version of <i>Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag</i>. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/watch-dogs-delayed-to-spring-2014.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-6957212353143267183Wed, 02 Oct 2013 22:47:00 +00002013-10-02T15:47:31.906-07:00critiquepcplaystation 3saints row IVxbox 360Superpowers are the glue that holds Saints Row IV together<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/superpowers-are-glue-that-holds-saints.html"><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img18/941/bkwh.jpg" width=1200></a><p>On paper, <i>Saints Row 4</i> shouldn’t work. <p>Originally conceived as an expansion to <i>Saints Row The Third</i>, it takes place in the same city, reuses some of the same jokes and gags, and has some of the same tired activities. But with a different premise, the introduction of new characters, and a varied narrative, <i>Saints Row 4</i> feels like one whole cohesive game wrapped around the concept of superpowers. <p><a name='more'></a>While <i>Saints Row 4</i> takes place in Steelport, it doesn’t actually take place in Steelport. Instead, you’re inside a simulation of Steelport called simulation 31. Because it’s a simulation and not the real world, you can run faster than any vehicle, shoot fire and ice, use telekinesis, and jump over buildings. Imagine the Matrix in the style of Saints Row. <p>It’s because of these superpowers that <i>Saints Row 4</i> feels different from <i>Saints Row The Third</i>, despite its similarities and borrowed material. Steelport might feel the same as it did before, if it weren’t perpetually at night. The buildings might seem familiar if you weren’t jumping over them and seeing new perspectives on old locations. The streets might give a sense of déjà vu if you were driving a car and not running past them at the speed of sound. Simply the way you move, your locomotion, feels radically different from that of <i>Saints Row The Third</i>, and in turn makes the city feel different. <p><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img842/9214/hw21.jpg" width=1200><p>Superpowers, however, don’t help <i>Saints Row 4</i> from treading over the same things that made <i>Saints Row The Third</i> unique. Missions like the Tron-inspired Decker’s Die level, singing with Pierce in a car, and the text adventure game were all standout moments that I can still vividly remember. But they all appear again in <i>Saints Row 4</i>, and while they have a bit more flavor added in this time around, like Zinyak interrupting Pierce and yours rendition of Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend,” they feel more like checking off a list of expectations rather than being memorable. <p>Surprisingly, superpowers also help alleviate some of the more problematic elements from previous Saints Row games. Personally, I always found the insurance fraud side missions frustrating and tedious. In <i>Saints Row 4</i>, they suddenly become my favorite activity. Running at top speed, head first, into a car, bouncing off, and twirling down the street doing cartwheels while earning money for each bounce and bone-crushing sound associated genuinely felt like I was breaking the engine’s physics. <p><img src="http://imageshack.us/a/img834/3212/1ou9.jpg" width=1200><p>I don’t think <i>Saints Row 4</i> is a better game than <i>Saints Row The Third</i>, but Volition did an amazing job at making it feel so different, it doesn’t have to be. Between walking around your pseudo-Normandy, talking and romancing homies, using music to destroy enemies with the dubstep gun, and being the President of the United States, <i>Saints Row 4</i> doesn’t fall into the trap of just simply being Saints Row 3.5. It finds a way to carve out its own place instead of doing the same thing again like other open-world games. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/10/superpowers-are-glue-that-holds-saints.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2388033961858134682.post-9191028011839191707Mon, 16 Sep 2013 20:46:00 +00002013-09-16T13:47:52.859-07:00arpgcritiquemarvel heroespcMarvel Heroes is finally ready for you to play<a href="http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/09/marvel-heroes-is-finally-ready-for-you.html"><img src="http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4408/xauz.jpg" width=1200></a><p>When <i>Marvel Heroes</i> launched back in June, it had the same predicament as most MMOs when released. It was done and out of beta, but barebones. It lacked any features and systems that made players want to play beyond just the story. Gazillion Entertainment took that starting point and ran with it, growing and adding more in the months since to now finally make <i>Marvel Heroes</i> feel like a complete game. <p><a name='more'></a>Beyond those playable at launch, the Human Torch and Emma Frost are now part of the roster, which totals 25 heroes in all. The Human Torch plays great solo, burning enemies as a means to regain health and spirit. Emma Frost can play as a ranged or tank hero, with the added ability to mind control enemies permanently, gaining both an ally as well as any beneficial effects they may have. <p>In addition, Gazillion added a new way to acquire heroes through Eternity Splinters. These items can drop from any enemy at a high drop rate, and once enough are collected, you can buy new heroes, ultimate power upgrades, along with other items without having to use real money in the in game store. Playing through the story campaign will award 200 Eternity Shards, enough to buy another starter hero, or you can take your chance for a random hero. <p>But like most action RPGs, playing beyond the story isn’t much fun unless there is loot to find. In addition to the variety of costumes and fortune cards already available, the patches since launch added two new types of items: Cosmic items and relics. Cosmic items are weapons and armor pieces just one-step above the now classic epic purple items. In addition to providing more stats than most pieces of gear, cosmic items also increase skills by one level with an added benefit of a random effect. This can range from increasing the hero’s damage for a short time, summoning a demon to help attack foes, or bursting in an explosion of cosmic power around your hero. <p><img src="http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/7422/macd.jpg" width=1200><p>Relics offer a new item slot that increases health and a different stat depending on which relic is used. While there are currently only eight types of relics to use, their benefits can apply to different heroes in different situations such as adding to movement speed, critical hit damage, melee or ranged damage, or increasing spirit. Relics can stack up to 1000, with each additional relic increasing the amount of health and particular stat that relic uses. <p>For me, grouping up with others and taking on endgame challenges is the most fun in any MMO type game. <i>Marvel Heroes</i> strikes a balance between the small and large group settings with Midtown Manhattan, a 10 player endless dungeon that provides experience, bosses, and loot to players starting at level one. For those more interested in challenging solo content, the latest patch added Heroic and Superheroic difficulties, opening up once you finish the story campaign. Similar to the Hell and Inferno difficulties found in <i>Diablo</i>, Heroic and Superheroic allow you to go through the story again but with higher-level enemies that have more health and hit harder, while also rewarding more experience and better loot. <p>Since release, I’ve clocked over 210 hours in <i>Marvel Heroes</i>, and I’m just coming up on enough Eternity Splinters to buy Emma Frost soon, so I know more hours are in my future. Along with a future hero-synergy system, team-up items, and an expansion to the number of artifact slots scheduled, Gazillion is making it easy to keep playing. http://www.newsanctuary.net/2013/09/marvel-heroes-is-finally-ready-for-you.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Cameron Wright)0